Sometimes
by Unishibi Moriko
Summary: IN-PROGRESS! Itachi finds himself remembering the past far too often once a past friend-turned enemy- returns. First fanfic, sorry if it sucks. ItachixOC
1. Chapter 1

Inside a cozy wooden cabin deep inside Fire Country's thick forests Itachi closed his eyes and sighed. It had been raining all day and was starting to drive him nuts – not that he'd ever admit that aloud mind you. He took off his forehead protector, removed his ponytail and ran his fingers through his hair. The door to his little cabin left to his futon opened and Kisame, his blue fish-man partner, walked in. Itachi didn't comment on the cuts and bruises on Kisame's face, figuring Kisame was able enough of a ninja to take care of himself and instead, he removed his shirt and laid down.

Eyes closed he could hear Kisame tidying up, probably after him. He had after all left his cloak on the floor near the fireplace, his shoes in the kitchen and his shirt on the coffee table in front of him. Suddenly all his clothes were atop him.

"Learn to friggen clean up after yourself damnit!" Itachi blinked, Kisame hadn't minded before. "Jesus Itachi, you're like a child." Kisame walked towards the small door leading to the kitchen, stopped and was about to say something but closed his mouth as he thought better of it. Itachi of course, just pushed his clothes to the floor beside him, he could clean up later. Closing his eyes again, he slowly drifted to sleep.

A smash from the kitchen however woke him up shortly afterwards. Kisame screamed in fury and started swearing at whatever Itachi assumed he had dropped. Grunting, Itachi rolled over, but Kisame's colourful language wouldn't allow him to sleep, and more smashing came from the kitchen. Annoyed, Itachi got up to investigate. Upon opening the door he meekly dodged a kunai aimed for his head. Turns out Kisame hadn't dropped anything, but a Konoha ANBU had come through the kitchen window.

Quickly grabbing that kunai, Itachi launched it back at the intruder. Realizing how much of a disadvantage Kisame was at without his sword, Itachi threw himself into battle exchanging punches and kicks with his opponent meanwhile dodging the island in the middle of a kitchen. Whoever thought an island in a kitchen was a great idea was clearly never a ninja. _This ANBU is good, _Itachi thought, _probably the head of a department._ Pushing away unwanted memories Itachi continued fighting. This had given Kisame enough time to grab his sword, come back and try to help. However this ANBU, noticeably a female, was capable of dodging all of their attacks, including the enormous obstacle known as an island, and especially Kisame's overly large shaver. Samehada was rather large and though quite usefull it slowed Kisame down to a point where the ANBU could quickly get in, attack, and get out before Kisame had fully swung the sword around.

Pissed off and thoroughly offended, Itachi told Kisame to leave the room, and closed his right eye. Once it opened, he shot a good amount of black flames, but not enough to burn down the cabin, towards his opponent who once again managed to dodge it all and put a hole in the wall anyways. _Tch. _ he'd been so careful to avoid that.

Slowly counting to ten mentally, Itachi calmed down; no matter how aggravating this was, he needed to stay cool, even if sometimes the idea of getting angry and destroying everything in his path seemed grand. Kisame however, burst through the door worried by the lack of noise.

"Huh? Where'd she go? How do you lose someone like that?" Kisame was now extremely pissed off; Itachi had never let enemies get away before, and was usually very efficient in covering their trail during travels. This was an important survival tactic needed by all missing ninjas, yet here they were, allowing someone to know where they had been. Leader was not going to approve.

"Hn." Itachi's favourite answer to any statement or question. He really didn't care where she went; he could find her easily if he wanted too, but going back to Konoha – even for a short amount of time – to track one ANBU was nothing he desired. Mostly because he'd have to go into ANBU headquarters, and that would be suicide, but stalking her would take too much time. Besides, now they had to pack and leave so that annoying, speedy ANBU girl didn't have accurate information on their whereabouts.

Quickly stuffing his sealing scroll full of clothes and hair ties, Itachi readied himself for a long night. Kisame had already been packed, a surprise to Itachi, since the shark nin usually took longer than a woman to get ready for anything. Within mere minutes, the two were out the door and speeding through the trees, looking for shelter.

"Ne, Itachi-san, it looks like it's going to rain again. It seems like we're in rain season, ne? Either way though, we should make camp underneath these trees, I think they're big enough." Itachi looked and had to agree, these trees were definitely big enough, even for Kisame's large form. Unrolling his sealing scroll, Itachi produced his sleeping bag and laid it out. Obviously leaving Kisame with first watch, Itachi laid down, the sounds of the rain lulling him to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Itachi-san! Sushi-kun! You'll never guess!!" A little brown haired, green eyed girl ran towards the two Uchiha's, pigtails flying in the wind behind her. Her emerald eyes were shinning and sparkly, similar to her personality everyday; she never seemed to run out of energy._

"_What is it now Moriko?" The two answered in unison, not really excited along with her. She had interrupted their training session._

"_Mama and Papa are going on a long mission and I'm going to be staying with Itachi-san and Sasuke-chan!!!" She was beaming, overly excited that she was going to be in the Uchiha compound – much closer to her beloved Shisui. "Isn't that great!! Ne, Sushi-kun? Aren't you happy?" Automatically her eyes lowered and darkened, feared of being rejected for the seventeenth time this week._

_Dark eyes looked at her cheerfully. "Of course I'm excited. But wont you miss your parents?" It was obvious to the younger Uchiha that Shisui was trying to reject her softly. It was a known fact that the bright little girl adored her parents, and Shisui was trying to get back to the sparring round he was in._

"_Well maybe but, I want to be closer to you – so we can spar and stuff I mean!" Moriko's creamy ivory skin turned a slight pink around her cheeks, and she got flustered; Shisui was not her strong spot. She had been crushing on the older boy for a few years now and even though they were old enough to date now, Shisui just didn't see her like that._

Itachi rolled around in his sleep, these dreams again, haunting him, reminding him of what he had lost. He murmured a few incomprehensible words and rolled over again, much to his partner's confusion. He'd seen Itachi have fitful sleeps but he usually stayed in the same position, never rolling around.

"_Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Screaming, blood curdling screaming could be heard down the darkness from where Itachi now stood. Turning around left and right, Itachi couldn't see who was screaming, so he started walking towards the sound. Suddenly the sound was behind him, louder than ever. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! Heeelllp!!!" Whipping around expecting to see her standing there, teary eyed and scared, Itachi saw nothing._

"Moriko!" Itachi sat up straight, wide awake and covered in a cold sweat. His heart beat wildly as his eyes darted around checking his surrounds, reassuring himself.

"Hey Itachi, are you okay? Are those nightmares getting out of control, we have talk to Leader-sama if they become too much and interfere with our missions." Itachi's blue partner was actually showing concern for the lithe man beside him. Strange.

"I'm fine, go to sleep I'll take my watch now." Itachi wasn't going back to sleep no matter how tired he was. Screw that idea, he wasn't going to have that dream again. Honestly he couldn't even count how many hours of sleep he'd lost to these dreams.

The forest was quite and calming for Itachi, having been raised in Fire Country, Itachi loved the thickness of the tree's providing shelter and plenty of hiding spots, perfect for a ninja.

_One more day of travel and we'll be back at the base, thank Jashin._ Itachi wasn't sure when he started to believe in Hidan's brutal God but he found it nice to be able to pray to something other than his own sanity, he was sure the other members of Akatsuki thought so too, all being murders themselves.

"Itachi don't return to the base, I need you and Kisame to meet me and the others 800 meters North of your position in a few hours." Itachi sighed, but Leader-sama's word was law. He used his shoes as a weapon and threw them at Kisame, attempting to wake the sleeping nin. Nothing. Not even a grunt. Glaring, angry that he now had to move, Itachi got up and kicked Kisame hard in the ribs.

"Get up you lazy ass, Leader-sama wants us to meet with him." Kisame was rubbing the sleep from his eyes and grumbled as a response.

"Whoa wait a second! We actually get to _see _him!" Kisame was suddenly about trying to make himself look presentable, although Itachi thought that would be impossible for a _shark-man. _Getting himself ready as well, Itachi was trying not to laugh at Kisame's attempt to tame his unruly hair. Within a few moments the two were heading north to finally meet their mysterious leader.

**Sorry for the long wait, I had too many idea's and I couldn't decide which one was better. Thanks to SeimaGanguro for the review, it made me want to continue.**

**-UnishibiMoriko**


	3. Chapter 3

Kisame grumbled as he sat next to the small fire he'd forced his partner to make, the only heat available while stuck in a small cave for the duration of the night. He hated staying awake all night or even for just a little while longer past midnight, although with a quick glance to the small figure next to him, he might be able to get away with making Itachi take his watch early.

"You know, you need to learn to fake sleep better, it'll get you killed." Kisame figured if he harassed Itachi properly he would be able to sleep soon.

"Used to work on my mother all the time" Kisame nearly just jumped out of his pants. Itachi never talked about his family in the entire time they'd been together, seven years now. Of course this also meant that if he wanted answers Kisame had to ask his questions carefully. He didn't want to offend Itachi and make him silent, then Kisame'd be forced to take both watches, not something on his 'to do' list.

"Really?" _Haha good job, vague but interested._ Kisame mentally patted himself on the shoulder.

"Yes, that or she didn't bother to do anything about it. She used to always come check on us every night, usually after Sasuke crawled into my bed." Itachi's voice was soft and distant like he was remembering the incidents at the very moment. Kisame, being the curious one he is, wanted to know more.

"Sasuke used to have nightmares?" Kisame figured that the one actually having nightmares was Itachi, of course though Itachi would never admit that. Killing his clan, his own kin, must have given Itachi more nightmares than he could count, and his newly found nightly problem: sleep talking. Kisame found out just how devious Itachi could be one evening when he mumbled something about cake. Everybody knows Itachi loves cake so Kisame listened closer just to hear 'here Sasuke eat my veggies and I'll eat your cake'. Little bastard got away without eating his vegetables! Although, that would be why Itachi was so scrawny.

"No." Suspicion confirmed. "He just liked being in my presence. He used to say it was comforting when he was sleeping. I think he was more afraid of my father than the darkness of his room." Kisame was now thoroughly shocked, not only had Itachi just talked about his family, he had actually had a real conversation with someone. Kisame would have offered a high-five if it wouldn't have given him broken bones and mental torture. "Our parents - …" Kisame sat silently, a difficult task but not impossible for the shark man, and attuned his blue ears to hear even the slightest sound. No suck luck. Itachi had fallen asleep, leaving Kisame with full night watch.

Ω

Itachi growled to himself as he took in the scenery in front of him. Everything reminded him of when he was little; he even passed his tree forte that he and Shisui had built. Being forced to stay in Fire Country on Leader-sama's orders was slowly killing him. Not that he'd show it outwards of course, he is the Uchiha prodigy; emotions are useless for ninjas. The trees were laughing at him as the wind blew through the leaves, and the sun was hot on his back. Of course Leader-sama made sure the cloaks were black of all colors. The raven resisted the urge to remove his cloak; Zetsu was probably spying on them anyways. Itachi always hated the plant man; he was just too creepy to be a person. Not that he should be talking, he killed his whole clan in a couple of hours, he really didn't think people thought of him as a person; more like monster. Well, Sasuke definitely did..

"Hey are you going to daydream all day Itachi?" Kisame interrupted Itachi's thoughts with a really angry blue face. "I said I was hungry like a hundred times already! C'mon I'm starving!"

"Hn." Itachi never really answered Kisame no matter what occasion. How the shark could possibly eat so much and so often made Itachi's insides want to be on his outsides. "There's an inn at the village just 200 meters east of us."

"Does it have a restaurant attached to it!" Kisame's eyes opened up wide, looking pretty desperate.

"Hn." Itachi kept walking at the pace he had set earlier while Kisame ran forward at top speed. _He must be really, really hungry…_ Itachi remembered the last time he and Kisame had gone to an all you can eat buffet, they were kicked out because Kisame ate too much food. How do you get kicked out of an 'all you can eat buffet'? Itachi couldn't figure it out for the life of him. All he knew was that he wasn't even the slightest bit hungry, having eaten only a couple hours before. However, he trudged on towards the small village that was where Kisame would be, destroying the restaurants with his massive appetite.

Ω

Night had come and the moon was shining through the window of the small room the two ninja's had rented. Itachi was on one side of the room on the single bed while Kisame had to have a double because he's so massive. Even still, the blue-mans feet stuck out over the edge of the mattress. Now that he had a moment to himself amongst the silence of the night, Itachi allowed his mind to wander. First it started with the nightmares he'd been having recently, slaughtering his family and the crying face of his beloved otouto. Then, he remembered the dream about Moriko, his childhood friend. Although she wasn't as good a friend as Shisui had been, she was always around him, forcing upon the two Uchiha's her simplistic beauty.

Of course there was no reason for him to have that one nightmare; he hadn't dreamt of it in years, upon years, upon years. He recalled Moriko's smiling face and how she _always _seemed to find him no matter where he went. She always changed her hair style every day; Itachi almost chuckled as he remembered the crazy styles he'd seen on her. She once had put in seven pigtails and then braided only four of them; letting the other three hang straight. Also, no matter if the sun was hiding in the clouds, her dark chocolate hair used to always shine.

Itachi also remembered how when he got her mad she would just shake her index finger at him and whisper a soft 'Sometimes Itachi… Sometimes'. Although, Itachi could never figure out what she meant, like, did she not understand him or just want to smack him up the head. The latter was more probable since with his sharingan, she stood no chance whatsoever. How she couldn't understand him though, was unlikely. Itachi swore she stalked him and watched him through the window while his family ate dinner. She was creepy sometimes that one, but her bubbly personality made up for it.

Though Itachi knew she wasn't always happy. He'd seen her cry like an abandoned infant, and angry to the point of murder, even though they had only been nine at the time. He remembered her smiling to him even though tears were streaming down her face, trying to say she was alright, but he never believed her. He knew about what happened in her family when her father was home; it was comparable to even the atrocities the Uchiha family had done. He actually had remembered looking up to her for strength; she had so much of it, it didn't seem right not to share. She also had a soggy shoulder from all the times he'd cried on her. Hiding the pain of all the burdens he carried sometimes was too much, and Itachi would find himself with a face full of Moriko's shoulder.

_I wonder what she'll look like now,_ Itachi mused. _She probably looks the same. Dark brown hair, bright emerald eyes, big shinning smile…_ But that's as far as he could go, he had no idea about her body figure, not that it could be very different from all the other female ninja's. _Wait! Female ninja! _Itachi's mind was reeling, _the ANBU that had attacked them!_ _Dark brown hair! Knew everyone of my moves!_ Itachi was slightly surprised, how could one stay in ANBU for so long? All the murders and assassinations that needed to be done daily, the blood the gore, it was perturbing. No one could stay in that environment for long without going insane.

Now that he had time to think about the ninja, he did. She had been tiny framed, even noticeable through the thick ANBU armour. Long slim limbs, legs that reached on forever… Itachi just suddenly blinked. _No it's okay; I was just looking at her body in and analysing way, nothing more._ Well, Itachi's body didn't agree, neither did his mind. It kept screaming at him 'You want to look at her more. Do it Itachi. Think of her body. Small, tiny Moriko, she's gotten older. She's a woman now. Full breasts, long legs, nice hips…' Itachi mentally slapped himself. He didn't want to think of a friend in that way. He wasn't like his shark partner, or the rest of the Akatsuki. He respected a woman's body, didn't look at women like an object to be owned or used and then thrown away. His mother taught him better than that.

_Mother,_ Itachi was human; he did miss his mother more than he let on. He especially missed her in the mornings. When he had been home from missions, and woke up after a fitful sleep, his mother had always been in the kitchen, creating all sorts of food to eat. The scent of food wafting through the house was usually what woke him in the first place. Now when he awoke, all there was going on was Kisame's obnoxious snoring. Being a missing nin was pretty lonely, and Itachi sighed again, knowing he'd be awake all night from his thoughts. Of course, they just _had_ to stray to his mother and family when he'd been trying to sleep. Of course.

**Now it's time for Itachi's mind to wander on topics that were better left un-described. Thank you faithful readers! Sorry for the long wait, I was studying for my diplomas. Reviews are worshipped.**

**EDIT: Weeee! Finally getting to editing and rewriting some of these chapters! I've been working on a lot of things this summer and I'm glad I've got the time to work on this! YESS! Thanks for all the faves, and reviews everyone! They really help!**

**-Moriko**


	4. Chapter 4

A feminine figure was lying atop the roof of a house lying within a villages' strong gates. Staring at the darkened sky, stars shimmering above the sleeping town, the figure slowly drank from a bottle clearly labelled: sake. Emerald eyes were closed; face impassive as if contemplating the meaning of life, or something else just as serious. A long, lithe arm reached out to the bottle and gently shook it, creating a small 'swishing' sound. A small scoff was heard, followed by a grumble about how 'alcohol always manages to disappear faster than you know it'. She quickly downed the remaining contents of the bottle and tossed it over the building, landing in a nearby trashcan.

"The stars are so pretty tonight, Sushi-kun." The lone person sighed heavily, having lost someone important evident in the sigh. "You know, I used to stay up late and try to convince myself someday we'd marry and spend the night together, just looking at the stars." She suddenly face-palmed, and decided to finish her story at the place of resting heroes. However, after standing up she quickly fell back to the rooftop, the alcohol finally getting to her. Any passerby would see about twelve bottles in the trashcan. "Heh, funny how the alco-ma-hol only kicksh in _after_ you shtand up eh Sushi-kun?" After four awkward tries she finally makes it into a standing position – only to fall off the roof. "Aaaah Susshhhi-kuuuuun!!! Don't pussshhh me!" After twenty minutes of walking on wobbly feet, she finally made it to her destination; the Hero Memorial Stone.

A small crash was heard as the women fell on top the epitaph. Mumbles and grumbles quickly followed until she was in a sitting position. A sigh of relief escaped her supple, pink lips since there would be no more falling, (unless you include how she was falling in love all over again).

"Sushi-kun, I'm going to finish m' story now. Anywaysh, where was I? Oh yah, we were getting married. See I had planned the whole thing out, your parentsh where going to be there, Itachi would be your best man, my sister was my maid of honour. The kimono I'd wear was white with emerald green edges, green pins in my hair. The stars would shine, the wedding was going to be at night since you know how I hate the sun. It's funny actually, I still burn just as quickly as when we were younger." She paused in her story only to giggle at herself and her amazing burn ability. "And then! We would have our honey moon the next day, all alone in the forest by the lake. We would play in the water splashing each other, and then take a nap together on the grass, underneath that Cherry Blossom tree. You know, the one that always blooms faster than the rest. I used to watch you and Itachi train from that tree; although I'm sure you knew that. I wasn't good at hiding."

Crystal tears were now streaming down her face, onto her dark uniform. She watched as they coloured it darker, making it stick to her. Rubbing the tears away, she was reminded of why she actually started drinking in the first place. "Sushi-kun, I have some bad news. The Hokage, she – she… She so totally hates me!!!" The woman's body started to shake with her sobs, emotions pouring out only because of the alcohol she'd consumed. Otherwise no one would ever have seen such a sight. "She made me give her my mask!!!! My mask! Sushi-kun my mask is my life!" Tears were pouring faster now and even the epitaph was getting wet. Slowly she traced the lettering of his name, Uchiha Shisui.

Ω

"_You let them know of your position! How could you do that! You _know _secrecy and stealth were the major parts of the mission! Your mission has failed, not only because they saw you, they know where you're from; they know who sent you, and most likely, they know why you were there! You need to think things through more before you go charging into things." A sigh was heard, coming from the busty blonde woman behind an oak desk. "Give me your mask; you'll be on temporary probation for a month. The Akatsuki will most likely come after you now, and to keep you safe, I'll have to keep you in the village. Understood?" Hazel eyes started at the feminine figure in front of her, expectantly._

"_Yes Hokage-sama. I understand." A gloved hand removed the white and red porcelain mask to reveal ivory skin and sad emerald eyes. The mask was placed on the oak desk, and the person disappeared from the room with a small 'poof' of smoke._

Ω

Rain started to fall onto the girl, still crying and clinging to the stone memorial. Her body was shaking and her sobs were loud, but the rain partially drowned them out. After several hours the rain had slowed and the woman's cries were silent; she had fallen asleep. Another figure made his way to the epitaph and his only visible eye clearly showed his sympathy. Hatake Kakashi walked up to the sleeping nin cautiously, you could never be too careful around a ninja who'd been in the toughest section for over ten years. ANBU certainly trained their employees very well, the woman immediately sat up and pulled a kunai from somewhere on her body. Although she put it away when she realized who was standing in front of her.

"Kakashi-san, I'm sorry." Her eyes lowered to the ground, shame hidden within the dark green.

"Maa, it's alright Moriko-chan. Although you know," his tone had gone from playful to serious really quickly, "you shouldn't sleep in the rain; you'll get ill." Her body started to look even smaller and more fragile. Kakashi quickly tried to fix his mistake – never, ever, tell Moriko how quickly she gets sick. "But if you want, I could uhh, walk you to your place. And uhh, cover for you?"

Kakashi was met with quite the glare; her soft green eyes had hardened. "I am not a child Kakashi-san; I do not need your help. I can get home on my own." Kakashi had quite clearly messed up. He really did just want to help the grieving girl in front of him. His eye crinkled and he smiled underneath his navy mask.

"Sorry Moriko-chan. Here, have my umbrella." He handed over a bright yellow umbrella striped with black. "I named it, bumble bee. Take good care of her, she's delicate." She took the object from the man, and almost immediately his spikey, gravity defying hair was sticking to his face and flat. "Ahhh you know how the rain reminds me of my friends?" Moriko shook her head and he continued, "The very first training we had together, similar to the one I use now, it was so sunny – not a cloud in the sky. But by noon, it was raining so hard you could have sworn the size of the drops were the same as your head." Kakashi smiled fondly, this obviously one of his favoured memories.

"Didn't you get sick?" Kakashi had Moriko's attention now, since if she even spent five seconds outside in the rain, she'd get ill. Kakashi just sighed.

"We all did, Obito was the worst. He actually was hospitalized for awhile. Sensei felt responsible so he never left Obito's side. That was when Rin decided to be a medic; she didn't want us to go without one. She said, 'you're always going to get hurt or ill, and it'll just be better for everyone'. It made sense but I don't think she really wanted to do it for herself, just for us. But, that's how it usually is with medics, my own student included."

Green eyes opened wide, "Sakura? She's training to be a medic?" Kakashi just chuckled and nodded. "Well, I've seen you train her, she's good at chakra control, but do you think she'll be able to handle it? All the dead bodies and blood? She's so small–"

"If I don't believe in her, who can we expect to believe in her for us? Hmmm?" Well he had a point there, so Moriko closed her mouth and started her way home. Of course, she was taking Bumble Bee with her. It made her smile really, Kakashi naming something as useless as an umbrella. It made her think he named everything, kitchen pots, and couches. She couldn't help but giggle. Lucky for Moriko, no one was awake at this crazy hour so they couldn't look at her strangely for giggling all the way home.

_Kakashi can really make people feel better._


	5. Chapter 5

Inside a small apartment was a female ninja, lying on her bed with the blankets pulled over the top of her head. Moriko sighed, rolled over, grumbled and sniffled. It was early morning but since her window was in the east, the sun was brightly shining through and waking her up. _Might as well get up since I can't go back to sleep – ugh._ Moriko tossed the blankets aside and shivered, she'd forgotten to pay her heating bill again. Slowly she slid her feet onto the floor and removed herself from the warmth of her queen sized bed. She loved her bed; it was huge and just for her. It was the first thing she'd bought with her own money when she was young, meaning she'd had the same bed since she was 9. It had dark blue sheets with pale purple pillows and a deep red coloured blanket.

Coughs racked through her small body tearing her away from the memories of buying the bed, and back into the present - she was sick; terribly sick. Coughs, phlegm and a fever of over 103 F were slowly killing her. With a quick decision of nothing for breakfast should she throw up, Moriko got dressed in the usual jounin attire, but black. Today she didn't feel like wearing any color, save the hideous green vest.

Today she was going to go get groceries, even if it made her puke. She had nothing left in the fridge or cupboards; empty was how she would describe her house. There were no pictures on the greyish walls; the only furniture was the couch and matching chair, with a coffee table in the center. No television, no radio, no newspaper, even her kitchen was bare. The kitchen only had a stove, microwave, fridge and dishwasher. Her plates consisted of paper towels and her cutlery was her fingers. She'd never bothered to actually buy the appropriate items for her house, she was too busy.

After locking the door and turning around Moriko was surprised to see Kakashi standing in front of her, his usual crinkle eye and orange book in place. "Good morning Kakashi-san. How are you?" –cough cough cough cough hack hack spit- Having a cold was really a bad thing for this tiny ninja.

"Oh I'm good. Um, what about you? You kind of look like crap." His crinkle eye was gone, replaced with concern, because when Moriko got sick – boy did she get sick! Kakashi remembered once she'd gotten the flu and almost died on them several times before she started getting better. "Maybe you should go to the doctors, I'll go with you." Kakashi was glad he knew Moriko better than others, they were the same really, except for Moriko's phobia of doctors and needles – hence the offer to go with. A playful smile crept to his face, "I'll hold your hand if you're scared?" His only reply was a meekly aimed punch for his face and 'I have to buy groceries.'

How could she possibly buy groceries in her state? She'd get all the other people sick as well. Kakashi stated his points but got a glare. "**I **_**have**_** to buy groceries**" Moriko's eyes had gotten stern and dark, no longer a deep, pure green. Boy could she be scary, the bags under her eyes and her messed up hair actually deepened the effect.

"Hai, hai, but I'm coming with you. _Then_ we'll go to the doctors." Moriko glared, she swore everyone knew she was afraid to go to the doctors, why was Kakashi being such a pest? "Oh um, where's Bumble Bee?" Kakashi looked worried. Moriko scoffed, it was just an umbrella. She told him so. "Yeah maybe, but it's MY umbrella and I'll miss it if I want to." Moriko was forced to re-open the door and take the yellow and black umbrella from its standing position next to her shoes.

HER SHOES!

Moriko quickly glanced down and realized she was bare footed. "God fucking damnit, I hate when I have a fucking cold. Stupid asses who invented colds should be burned at the stake with their pathetic freaking assistants who helped them. Stupid mother fuckers."

Kakashi laughed at her antics, and looked down – following her gaze – to see that indeed, she was missing her shoes. Moriko could be so funny when she had a cold. Although, she was twice as deadly with her raging temper, flared by the fever he knew she was sporting. "Maa forget the umbrella, when we come back with your groceries I'll get it then."

"NO! Damnit you're getting your freaking umbrella and THEN we'll go fucking shopping!" Moriko was really mad, but Kakashi had to laugh, she was just too funny. She never swore ever, so this was a treat to him - when she swears she would tightly close her eyes, as if telling herself she really wasn't swearing. Moriko slammed the door and walked away carrying Bumble Bee with her. Kakashi just followed until they got to the market.

"What's on the menu?" Kakashi asked in a sing-song voice.

"Fucking…stupid…gay…"

Ω

"Well, your fever is pretty high, and I suggest a lot of bed rest. There's no need for hospitalizing you yet. Just sleep a lot and have lots of liquids." A medic with light brown, curly hair held the thermometer that was recently taken out of Moriko's mouth.

"Are you sure? She was coughing like crazy and kept spitting out all this phlegm, she wasn't thinking –" Kakashi was shut up by Moriko's small hand, and a hiss of impending doom.

"I'm fine." Moriko quickly got off the table and picked up her groceries – or at least some of her groceries. She'd almost fainted at the market so Kakashi made her come to the doctors. The door to the small office was slammed shut in her anger. She was almost out of the building before Kakashi could catch up.

"Moriko-chan, really it's not that bad. At least you didn't get a needle this time right? So it's aaaalllll good. No need to be maaaad." Kakashi was singing again.

"Kakashi-san if you keep singing I'm going to cut out your vocal cords without even touching you." Kakashi was silent after that, knowing full well she would and could do it.

Ω

Moriko sighed, lying her bed all alone for the past week and a half was really boring. Kakashi would come once every other day to make sure she hadn't died, but other than that she was lonely. Moving to the bathroom to get a new wet cloth for her forehead was proving to be difficult; her legs were stiff and sore along with the rest of her body. "Gay."

A door opening and closing was heard and a loud voice interrupted her. "Moriko-chaaaannnn I'm hooooome, did you miss me honeeyyyy?" Moriko sighed again. God this man was annoying. He would show up just when she needed him. Couldn't he do other things with his time?

"In here Kakashi-san." –cough cough- "I'm just getting another thing for my forehead."

"I'll get it for youuuuu!" _Kakashi-san was way too happy for this early in the morning._ "Oh and, it's almost dinner time silly." _And now he can read minds too! FUCK!_ "Have you eating yet? I'll make you something" Obviously deciding for himself, that he needed to take care of her.

Moriko walked into the kitchen a few minutes later with a 'Why are you still here?' Which was met with a 'can't I take care of my friends?' "No. You only come to see if I'm dead, you should be gone by now."

"Aw Moriko-chan I'm hurt. You want me to leave you alone with this massive cold, which you only caught because you miss your love? Nope, no can do I have to stay here." Kakashi nodded for effect, his one eye closed. His eye opened and he was now serious, no more jokes." We're the same really, lost our love to war and now forcing ourselves to be single, out of respect for their memory." He was slowly closing the space between them. "We should move on now really, it has been years since they passed away." He had hooked a finger into his mask and was pulling it down, already right in front of Moriko. Moriko's eyes were wide and a pink blush had covered her face. She'd seen Kakashi without his mask before, but he was so close to her. His eyes were closing and his face was coming closer to her own. "Moriko.."

Moriko gasped slightly as Kakashi's lips caught her own in a chaste kiss. She'd known him for a long time and had never expected him to like her this way. She thought he was still caught up on Rin. Her body froze as he kissed her again and again trying to get a response. She was sick! He shouldn't kiss a sick person. "Kakashi-san," She murmured trying to get him to stop and allow her to speak, which was granted. "You shouldn't kiss sick people, you –" He cut her off with a peck on the lips again.

"Its okay, my immune system is far better than yours" Kakashi was whispering against her lips, his hands on either side of her head against the wall. "Besides, we both need this." His lips claimed hers again, tongue licking her upper lip, teeth nipping at her lower lip.

_Was he still expecting a response? How could you get a response out of someone who has been through the shock of her life? I - I'm scared. What do I do? How do I…?_

Slowly, Kakashi pulled away; upset he didn't get anything from it. "Moriko I'm sorry." Kakashi pulled his mask up again and walked to the door to put on his shoes. The door closed and he was gone before Moriko even had a chance to realize what happened. So she crawled back into bed wide eyes and scared. Hoping to go to sleep before her eyes stuck in the position they were in.

**Edit: Okay so the changes I made were minimal, since I think this one's pretty good. I love a crazy, idiot-like Kakashi. Doesn't that seem funny? X.x**

**-Moriko**


	6. Chapter 6

Being in Fire Country really was hurting Itachi's state of mind. The heat of the sun, the shade of all the trees, the sounds of the birds and other animals; it all reminded him of times that were long gone, and unable to return to the present. He and Kisame had passed through all his favourite training area's and even the lake he used to hide out at. Itachi didn't even notice his pace had slowed during his reminiscing until he ran into Kisame's overly large back.

"Itachi-san, normally I wouldn't ask but," Kisame looked frightened, probably because Itachi could kill him without a second thought, but continued anyways. "What is it you keep thinking about so much? You walk slower than me and you're totally in a daze. I don't want to be an ass, but it's totally going to affect our mission. And then Leader-sama would-"

"Shut up Kisame. It's none of your business. Keep walking." Itachi's voice was monotone as always, and his face impassive as ever. However on the inside, a part of him no one had seen in many years, he was hurting. Had he been alone he might've allowed a tear to fall, but he couldn't do something so disgusting in public – not even in the company of his partner. Of course, Kisame kept quiet and walked ahead deciding not to even look back at his partner until it was necessary. …. The silence only lasted about an hour.

"Itachi-san?" Itachi looked up at his blue companion and quirked an eyebrow. Kisame only fidgeted like a child about to be scolded. "I'm hungry." Itachi almost sweat dropped. This guy had no sense of diet. "Eh, Itachi-san can we stop? My tummy is growling," Itachi looked like he was going to release some pent up anger so Kisame tried to get compliance through the only way he knew how: annoyance. "And if people hear my massive growling stomach you know we'll be doomed. We'd be found out and then Leader-sama –"

"Fine." Score one for Kisame, Itachi – nothing. So Kisame mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done. He knew he was pushing his luck with Itachi's bad mood, but it was **so** easy to irritate the kid in Fire Country. "The lake we just passed has fish. Go get some."

Kisame ran like the wind towards his lunch-to-be calling out, "Here I come, little fishies! First I'm gonna to find ya! Then I'm gonna eat-chya!" Itachi willed away an incoming migrane. _Stupid shark, going to get us killed._

After Kisame and Itachi had built they're make-shift camp, and eaten the fish Kisame had caught, Itachi was forced to listen to stories of Kisame's childhood. If it wasn't so out of character for him, or pride-killing, Itachi would stuff a rock down Kisame's throat just to shut him up. However, he couldn't, so he patiently waited for night fall.

"And then! When it would rain, everyone would run outside and jump into the lake that was there. Rain feels good when you're already wet so we all just soaked it up. It sucked that I had to kill them but, you gotta do what you gotta do, right Itachi-san?" Kisame looked directly into Itachi's eyes, a bold move not gone unnoticed. Itachi figured his favourite answer should do, so he 'hn'd'. But Kisame's sigh and the look directed to Itachi showed him that it would no longer work.

"You know Itachi-san, 'hn' is not a word. And next time I ask you a question, I'm seriously expecting a real answer. And not just one word answers either."

_Damn. I hate this guy._

Ω

Night had fallen and it was time for Kisame's watch. Itachi had taken first watch so he could have some silence, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Itachi stood and kicked Kisame in the ribs.

"Your turn." Kisame grumbled but got up anyways. Upon opening his eyes fully he realized Itachi was no longer around. He growled but stayed awake, knowing full well Itachi would come back and kick the shit out of him for going back to sleep. Besides he probably just had to pee. So Kisame leaned up against the tree closest to him and focused on the remaining embers of Itachi's handy-made fire.

Itachi sped through the trees, he had little time. He'd thought a lot about Moriko and had come to the conclusion to finally do something about it; he would see her. Of course it had to be at night so he could be hidden within the shadows. He'd left his cloak with Kisame, it was less obvious this way. Quickly the tall red gates of Konoha came into view, and Itachi sped up. He **had** to see her. Looking over at the guards' from the top of the gates, Itachi scoffed; they'd fallen asleep. _Stupid._ So without any worries Itachi sped atop the roofs of people's homes soundlessly, towards the only place he could hopefully find the long haired woman he was looking for.

At long last he'd found it, the big white house with withered gardens. _Those flowers' death was always a subtle hint to what the house was like on the inside. I remember Mother telling me that a beautiful house usually has a wonderful family inside, however I think it was backwards. Moriko's house was definitely beautiful, even an idiot could see that. But her family was broken inside, and the walls had plenty of tales to tell. Having a clean house shows how distant the family is from each other. Just like how clean my room always was._ Itachi mentally slapped himself; he was being selfish. He counted to the right window and placed himself on the balcony. He hadn't hidden his chakra very well; a stupid mistake on his part, since the curtains flew back and Moriko was ready with her ANBU sword. _Apparently she slept with the balcony doors open, who knew._

"Relax Moriko; I seriously am just here to talk to you. Actually, I wasn't supposed to be seen but that is a dead plan now. Would you let me in?" He was hoping if he actually talked like he used to, she's relent.

WRONG!

"Get the fuck out of this village or God help you, I will kill you." Itachi was glad she'd given him a warning; it meant she still liked him. Her eyes were darker than he remembered; where had all the shininess gone? Where were the brightly colored emeralds? _This wasn't Moriko from ten years ago. She really has changed. But I guess ANBU does do that to a person after so long._ Itachi felt his eyes soften and change to their original color. He felt responsible for her newly acquired form.

"Moriko, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have to be in this shape. You're eyes have changed, along with your smile. Where is your smile?"

"Get out now!" Moriko had lunged at Itachi with full force, only making Itachi feel worse. He blocked her sword with his handy-dandy kunai always kept in his sleeve and prepared to flee. With a good distance between them he looked back and whispered again, 'I'm sorry.' Then with a poof of smoke he was gone.

Itachi collapsed near his tree-forte and sighed, it really was his fault. He'd asked her to join ANBU with him, saying Shisui was going as well. It was rude of him to put someone who was actually so fragile into a place so harsh. And she'd stayed there this entire time, the only question Itachi had was: 'how?' Itachi sat silently until it was almost dawn, then he got up and took off towards Kisame. Maybe someday he could visit her again without all the rage of his betrayal.

Ω

The lithe ninja growled; she needed to report this. Of course Itachi would show up at her old house, when she'd really only gone there for some towels. The big fluffy ones her mother insisted on buying, when they hadn't needed new ones. With an arm full of towels, and a mind full of memories, Moriko trudged towards the Hokage's mansion. _Sometimes, I really hate my job._

**I'm sorry for the huge-ass delay, we've been renovating and I had no time. Also I got a job so I have even less time, but I will make up for it I swear. Also I realized I didn't give you a time frame so, it's from when Naruto returns in Shippuuden but before his squad goes looking for Itachi. Please review I need to know I'm doing this right.**

**-Unishibi Moriko**

**EDIT: Weeee! Only minor changes here and there, but I thought I should let you know. :D**


	7. Chapter 7

The walls of the room where Moriko had been forced to stay in were blank, even more so than her apartment. There was only one window in the east, simply to let the sun in, and the walls were stone gray. Every thing in the ANBU Headquarters was stone or just coloured that way. Moriko's green eyes closed and she sighed, there was a reason she was forced to stay within the boring walls of her office, and his name was Itachi Uchiha. She wanted to kill the man, he'd only found her in that old house because she'd forgotten some papers there. Otherwise she wouldn't have been there, she'd have been in her 'lame ass' apartment, as she liked to call it when no one was around.

A sigh escaped her pink lips once again as she looked at the papers sitting on her desk, waiting to be filed and signed, then filed again. _Sometimes, I really hate this job._ Again a sigh, but Moriko set to work with her favourite green pen. It had sparkles on it, and she'd owned it since she was six. In fact, it was a gift from someone special; Shisui Uchiha. _Funny how it never runs out of ink._

Hours later, papers singed and filed, Moriko had some time to herself. Or so she thought. At that exact moment someone was knocking on her window. Moriko knew who it was, the bastard that got her stuck here in the first place. He also had made her lose her mask. Well now she was mad, so she went and allowed Itachi to enter with the swiftness of the night.

"What do you want you ass." Moriko wanted to punch his face in right there, but if he was stupid enough to come to the village twice, then there had to be a reason. Unless he really was stupid. "Haven't you caused enough trouble here? Just leave."

Itachi's ebony eyes looked at her with pain and sadness, only making the slim woman in front of him even angrier. Her eyebrows furrowed and the green in her eyes seemed to fade to black. "I told you I need to talk to you. All you have to do is listen." Moriko's anger inflated at this.

"Listen to a murderer? Are you kidding me? Oh hell no, I'm not listening to you. Get the hell out of my office before I kill you." Moriko decided she loved giving warnings just to play with her prey.

Itachi just smirked. "If we fought, you know I'd win. So just shut up. This is really important." The Uchiha prodigy removed his forehead protector and all of his weapons in front of Moriko's angry gaze to prove he just wanted a chance to speak. This happened to be a lot of weapons. He pulled out about ten hidden kunai's from his shirt, six from his pants, and four from his boots. There was also a shuriken hidden in his ponytail, how he managed that without cutting his hair was a mystery. "Sasuke is getting stronger. Now he's after me. I'm going to die soon and I want to let you know that no matter what, you cannot tell Sasuke the truth. It would ruin his world. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about?"

Green eyes focused on the floor, Moriko knew exactly what he was saying. He was innocent, for the most part. "Why can't I tell him? Doesn't he deserve to know? He kind of has the right to know, Itachi."

"No! He mustn't know!" Itachi breathed heavily, this was not his favourite topic for conversation but he continued anyways. "Think of it, he would come here to kill everyone. This village would be destroyed and you know it. He wouldn't understand why I made the sacrifices I did. Nor would he understand all the circumstances around the situation, he's still too young and foolish, with a very mouldable and vulnerable mindframe.

"Knowing would also keep him from repopulating our clan, he'd hate Konoha too much to take a wife and start over. All the truth would do is destroy his state of mind. He might even come back to Konoha simply to kill everyone. He'd no longer have any childhood left –"

"You took his childhood away from him stupid. He was so young and you showed him what happened! You're a monster! How could you do that to your baby brother?" Itachi's sight got blurry and his eyes were filled with unshed tears, this really, really was not a comfortable conversation.

"You know I had to. If it had not been necessary I wouldn't have even thought of it. For the clan to be avenged properly he needs to kill me, without knowing the truth. Yes, our clan was strong and proud, but Sasuke doesn't need to know everything. Just let him be and think what he wants." Itachi's eyes closed to keep the tears from falling.

"What if he asks, you want me to lie? I can't lie to someone so innocent Itachi. He deserves to know. I will make a deal, I will only tell if he asks okay." Itachi nodded and sighed. "Fine, now you have to leave. I've listened to what you said, but my duty as an ANBU officer forces me to tell the Hokage. Since I know about things even the fifth doesn't, I'll let you get a head start." Before Moriko even finished her sentence Itachi was gone through the window and into the night. With a heavy sigh, Moriko pulled her long legs towards the Hokage Tower.

Ω

It was raining again, as it had for the past twelve days. It had been a month since Itachi showed up in Moriko's office, and now that she was constantly surrounded by five other ANBU officers she didn't know anything. Information was being kept from her and she knew it. The Hokage was trying to protect her but sometimes, having the knowledge will keep people alive. Moriko was currently in the hot springs hiding from perverts underneath the water. She was also testing herself to see how long she could hold her breath. Her last record was three minutes and forty two seconds. _Besides, freaking out those kohai's is fun_. Not to mention bathing in hot water while it rained was the only way she wouldn't get sick. She hadn't been under for even two and a half minutes before one of the officers dove in to 'save' her.

"Stupid! What are you doing in the women's side!" Moriko was now thoroughly pissed off. This 'smart' ANBU had been a male, and now had also seen her naked, and wet. Gross.

"Moriko-sama you were drowning!" Lucky for him he was wearing his mask, to hide the nose bleed, and his wandering eyes. Unfortunately it was seen by the seething woman, and he was thrown across the massive bathing pool and slid across the slippery floor.

"Stupid! I do not need your help! I was not drowning you stupid person!" Moriko was trying to refrain from swearing in front of so many people. Lowering herself to grab her towel, she unintentionally gave the other ANBU a good view of her backside. They all passed out from blood loss. Wrapping the fluffy towel around her slim body she scowled, "Get out of the bath now. This is not an area for perverts to peek on their superiors." Long eyelashes twitched as she recognised a familiar chakra. "Including you, Kakashi-san." Immediately a male body appeared in front of the half naked women, carrying an orange book and a crinkly eye, how the book was not sopping wet will always remain a mystery. _Maybe it's a special jutsu he created to protect his porn. Haha, weirdo._

"Maa, how could any man resist a chance to see such a young body perfectly sculpted by years of ninja training? Hmm?" Kakashi's question was only answered with a punch to the face, but he dodged it of course. "There's no harm in looking Moriko-chan!"

Moriko's face flushed with anger, and embarrassment. She'd had an older brother who was older than the man standing there, yet Kakashi had been peeking. He'd probably been watching longer than she thought since she was too busy beating up her stupid 'gaurds'. That also meant that he'd seen her naked, and that was worse than her kohai's seeing her naked. Kakashi was definitely going to make fun of her for it; the ANBU would not even dare to.

"I am going to murder you Kakashi! Get your perverted self out of the women's bath house!" Quite giggles followed Moriko's seething reply, which only served to make her angrier, and Kakashi got the mental image of smoke coming out of her ears and foam in her mouth; making him chuckle and not helping the situation at hand. "Are you laughing? **Laughing! **Oh you better pray to God, because you're absolutely going to be dead." With that, Moriko 'poof'ed' to her apartment to change and equip herself with weapons before she fought with Kakashi. She remembered to bring out her special weapon too. It might come in handy if Kakashi gets serious. _This is going to be hard to do with all the officers watching me. Crap, stupid Kakashi-san always getting me into spots where I can't help myself._ Instantly the memory of Kakashi's kiss forged itself into Moriko's mind. _I hate that man. He is so dead, after I get rid of these officers._ Moriko flopped on to her bed with a sigh, things just weren't going her way. _Sometimes, I really just want to leave this world._

**EDIT: Muahaha. PLOT! Well… If you can see it.. Maybe not… Well, I see it… … Of course I see it! –facepalm-**

**-Moriko**


	8. Chapter 8

The wind was picking up speed, blowing leaves and dust around two figures walking along a trodden path. The taller of the two pulled down on the straw hat covering his identity, to protect his eyes from the dust. The smaller one did nothing. His walking speed was exactly as it was when the two had set out from their camp, even though it had been about five hours since then.

"Itachi-san, can we stop and make camp, it's going to rain." The taller man looked towards his partner, showing his blue skin. Asking Itachi to stop without saying please was a rather scary thought, but Kisame knew that if he didn't get forceful sometimes, nothing would get done. He had once even been forced to spoon feed his partner some soup because he was too ill to do so himself. _Man, I'm never doing that again. How embarrassing._

"Fine. If we go left here, there should be some thicker forests to hide us from the wind." Kisame was still wondering how Itachi could sense such a thing with his terrible eyesight, when he literally ran into a tree. _I wonder if he ever walks with his arms straight out when I'm not around. Ahaha that would be a sight to see._

"Hey Itachi-san. Could you make us a fire?" Kisame shivered, "I'm so friggen cold." Itachi gathered some wood, put it into the 'teepee' shape, and lit it on fire with his eyes closed. Kisame deadpanned. "Jeeze Itachi, how do you do that? You can hardly see but you go along as if you can!" Kisame was inwardly jealous.

"As a ninja Kisame, I find this question irrelevant to anything important. However, I will answer." Itachi sat down crossed-legged in front of the crackling fire. "A ninja does not need his eyes to see. You should have trained to be able to see with your other senses, instead of so readily relying on your eyes."

"Maybe, but I don't have a special ability that almost forces me to get blind, so I never thought of it." Kisame scratched his chin while Itachi mentally face-palmed. "Did your parents teach you that stuff or did you learn on your own?"

"Madara and my parents taught me."

_Score: Kisame – 2, Itachi – 0._

"You know, you never talk about your family much Itachi. How come?" Kisame was prepared for an attack, he knew Itachi hated talking, especially about his family. _I'm going to learn something about you yet Itachi. Before you die, I will learn more about you. Enough to say we were friends._ However, no attack came. Just a lonely sigh.

"It's not a pretty story. But I'm going to tell you anyways. You have to promise me though, that you will never – **ever** – speak of this to anyone else." Itachi's partially glazed-over eyes glared at Kisame. It was frightening; all Kisame could do was nod. "When I was little…"

Ω

"Wow." Kisame was dumbstruck. "You... Really? How? That… That's impossible! No way!" Itachi sighed heavily.

"Yes Kisame. It really happened, exactly the way I told you it did." Itachi slowly lied down on the hard earth. "Now be quiet. I'm going to sleep. Wake me up in four hours."

Kisame stared at the small man in front of him. Someone he'd known, or thought he'd known, for seven years, had hid such a dark secret from him. He never even noticed something like that could have happened. He really though Itachi was crazy, not that his clan was crazy. The thought of anything different from the lies he'd been told all the time, never occurred to him. _No wonder he has so many nightmares. God, I would too._ Kisame decided from that point on, he respected Itachi on a whole new level. He was no longer just a partner, or someone who could easily beat him in a sparring match. Itachi was now a human. Someone with feelings, secrets, and pain all pulled tightly under many years of restraint. Itachi was definitely an amazing being. And Kisame was going to protect the person Itachi was, until he died.

**Hey I'm sorry this is so short. I actually had this written in the beginning of September, but then our computer crashed. Never buy AVAST Anti-virus. It'll kill your computer.**

**But guess what? Right after we got the computer back, I got H1N1. Lucky me. So this is just to update, I'll have something better soon. I actually really like this chappy no matter how short.. :D**


	9. Chapter 9

Itachi looked around the area, surveying it, checking for enemies while his blue partner just sat cross-legged in front of another one of Itachi's handy made fires. He let some chakra out, searching farther than what his failing eyesight could see, and quickly stood up readying himself for a battle.

"Kisame, there are Iwa nin's coming our way, put that out." Of course he was referring to the crackling fire that was the only source of heat in the chilly early morning hours. Jumping behind a tree he concealed his chakra, noticing his partner had done the same, although just a bit slower because of his given task.

"How many?" kisame's harsh whisper reached Itachi's ears, making him furrow his brows. Any louder and the dead would have woken. Kisame was not good at being quiet, the polar opposite of Itachi himself. Itachi raised his hand, showing 4 fingers, his fist, and then 4 again.

_Four squads of four. Damn, how did they know we were here?_ Kisame grumbled, grabbing the hilt of his sword, waiting. His whole body was itching for a fight, even though his mind knew it would actually be better to flee. Soft footsteps that only S-class missing nin's could hear, entered the small camp the two Akatsuki had made; the leader of the entire group stepped forward and motioned with his hands, Kisame watched. _Two to the left, four to the right, and the rest stay still waiting for orders._ He knew that Itachi would be fine, since the two men were going for him, while the four went for Kisame. He was almost fidgeting with excitement. He and Itachi hadn't sparred in what felt like forever, and Kisame had a lot of energy waiting to be released.

Suddenly the ground underneath the shark-man started to rumble, and Kisame had to jump into the tree tops for safety. Not that it mattered now; they had been found. _Those freaking Earth ninja's. Well, Itachi will be fine since he has the elemental advantage. Heh. _Kisame jumped from his branch and let his body weight do the rest of the work. A sick crunchy sound was heard for all the ninja's in the small clearing as Kisame squashed the ninja below him. The other three stood there silently shocked, mouth agape; but quickly recovered, and started throwing kunai and shuriken towards the massive blue enemy.

"Heh, you should know such tiny things like that aren't going to stop me." Kisame smiled, showing off his fang-like teeth, and laughed as the Iwa shinobi tried to hide their fear. "You can't hide your fear from me, I can smell it. Quite delicious isn't it Samehada?" Kisame asked his beloved sword in his hand, not surprised at all when it started to reply, in its weird 'crackling'. "Yes you're right, let's finish this quickly."

Kisame quickly disposed of the three ninja's, leaving their bloody corpses behind, to help fight off the rest of the platoon. The ten stood there in the clearing silently, the leader up in the front. His tan face showing nothing more than anger. Again, Kisame smiled. This was the kind of fight he'd been looking forward to for a long time, so many ninja's against himself, yet he knew he could easily win. Before he could strike with his shaver, he felt Itachi's chakra suddenly disappear, but heaved a sigh of relief when Itachi reappeared in front of him.

"Enough. Take your fallen comrades and leave." Itachi's voice was deep monotone. However Kisame, having been partnered with Itachi for so long, knew that Itachi was tired and just wanted to rest. Otherwise, he would have just let the fighting continue without him. Kisame also knew, that Itachi's request would be denied.

"We cannot do that." The leader of the group spoke with the same monotone as Itachi. The stupid yet brave, Iwa nin had dark brown hair, coming out of his head in uncontrollable spikes, and his eyes were the same deep brown. Many would have called him handsome, although standing in a clearing close to an Uchiha, he looked dismal and no one would have noticed. Kisame could smell the distinct scent of arousal, and quickly scanned the rest of the enemies, easily locating the only woman in the group.

_Che, that stupid woman finds Itachi hot enough to get wet about it. Doesn't she know who we are?_ Kisame scrunched his face in confusion, but decided to start paying attention to the conversation at hand.

"-That is not possible. You know who you are, as well as we do. Your crimes have been horrendous and cannot go without punishment." The leaders face remained impassive, but everyone could tell he was clearly upset. "We will take you prisoner and you will tell us information on the Akatsuki"

"Haha," Kisame had to laugh, the man sounded so ridiculous trying to dominate two S-class missing ninja's with just his words. "Man, you are stupid to think we'll just go willingly."

"Kisame." That was all he needed; the approval of bloodshed. Quickly, in a matter of seconds, Kisame had slaughtered the shinobi in the clearing, the corpses no longer definable as human beings. He glanced at his small partner noticing his eyes were closed and his nose tucked into the neckband of the cloak. Itachi had a blood problem; he couldn't stand to be near it, and hated it being spilled unnecessarily. That's why Kisame needed Itachi's approval before he killed, he couldn't have his partner vomiting or fainting on him. _Ughh, last time was so gross he puked all over me and my new cloak, and Leader-sama wouldn't allow me a new one._ Discretly Kisame looked at the stain, just to his left under the sleeve. Before that the only time he'd seen Itachi so sick was when he had to spoon feed him soup. _Ahh, I'm still leading in the score, I have 3 points while Itachi-san has one. Heh._

"Kisame." Itachi's voice was soft, and Kisame could smell the fatigue rolling off of him in waves.

"Got'chya. Let's get going." Kisame and Itachi took to the trees, speeding off faster than a scared cat. _Towards that cabin again?_ "Itachi-san, won't that be an obvious destination for us?" Itachi nodded. "Why?"

"Because" Itachi always answered with one word, sometimes two, but never more. It irked Kisame that Itachi didn't want to converse with him, the only time Itachi actually spoke outside of mission requirements was the other night, when Kisame learned of Itachi's past. _Well, about the massacre anyways._ "I need something from there."

_Your medicine, you forgot your medicine? That's it? Ughh._ Kisame berated him in his mind, knowing that Itachi wouldn't pay any attention if he'd said it aloud anyways.

Ω

Kisame lounged on the couch while Itachi went into the bathroom, attacking the medicine cabinet looking for his pills. Kisame allowed his mind to wander, knowing full well Itachi's pills were not in the bathroom medicine cabinet, and that hiding them had definitely been worth the pain to find a good spot. _Although, if he kills me for it, it wouldn't be very funny. Hmm, I wonder if he would kill me. I take pretty good care of him. Bah! What _am_ I saying?… Well, I do look after him. Bah! What am I? His mother! Psht, I think not. _Kisame almost smiled when Itachi walked back into the living room, his brows furrowed together.

"Need something Itachi-san?" Kisame did smile when Itachi merely held out his hand, palm up, simply expecting that Kisame will just hand him the medicine. "Hahaha I don't have your meds, kid. You can search me if you want, but I don't have them." Itachi stood his ground, still holding his hand out, but now he was almost pouting. Almost, but not quite. "Aw, come on Itachi-san! I don't have them. You know that." _After Itachi dies, I'm asking for a talkative partner. This silence is annoying._ Itachi's hand was still out, ask he spoke.

"I know that you hid them." This time, Kisame was full out laughing; holding his tummy and his head was thrown back. Itachi's eyebrow twitched.

"Well go look for 'em kiddo!" With only the swiftness of a ninja, Itachi turned on his heel, heading back towards the bathroom. Kisame was still laughing.

**EDIT: Ahahahaa! Just a few minor adjustments, hardly noticeable. This, after re-reading it, is definitely my favourite chapter. I could totally see Kisame act like this when they're alone. Like a big brother, sorta.**

**-Moriko**


	10. Chapter 10

_The calm winds rustled through the trees, and the stars shined brightly above the village of Konoha. However, two lone figures sat beside each other just outside the gates, in front of a small lake, underneath an early blooming cherry tree. One of the two was taller and had short hair, while the other was rather small and had shoulder length hair. Both figures had similarities; each had dark inky hair, tan skin, and both had a red and white fan on the back of their shirts._

"_Shisui-san, have you seen Moriko around lately?" The smaller one spoke so softly the breeze almost whisked it away, but the elder had heard._

"_No. I haven't seen her since her parents got home from that mission." Shisui closed his eyes and shook his head._

"_Do you think we'll ever see her again?" _

_Itachi looked up from the grass, looked up at the one he considered an older brother. "Do you?"_

"_I don't know Itachi, we may never see her again; you know what her father's like." Shisui looked back into identical black eyes, and continued softly, "The worst case scenario is that she might already be gone." Itachi lowered his gaze back to the grass._

"_It isn't right for them to treat her like that." Itachi sighed._

"_Che, no it's not, but do you think it's fair what our entire clan does to it's self?" Shisui scoffed. "The world is evil sometimes, and sometimes, there's not a damn thing we can do about it." Shisui stood up and brushed off his pants. "Come on Itachi, we should get back; your mother's going to have a bird if she finds you missing."_

"_No she won't." Itachi spoke so softly, this time Shisui did not hear._

"No she won't." Itachi grumbled in his sleep, rolled over and grumbled some more. "Shisui … wait …"

Kisame listened with interest, it had been awhile since Itachi had actually slept, and now he knew why the man had been so insistent on taking first watch. _Who's this Shisui guy? Itachi's lover? Oh that'd be interesting, I always thought something wasn't right with this kid. Hahaa. _Kisame's beedy eyes watch as Itachi's eyebrows scrunched up, and a look of terror etched itself into his face.

"No, no! NO!" Itachi bolted up right, blurry eyesight scanning the immediate area. Once again, finding himself to be the source of amusement for his shark like partner.

Kisame fidgeted, "Itachi-san?" A deep inhale was heard. "Who was 'Shisui'?" Kisame made sure to avoid eye contact. This could get him killed. A long pause settled between the two missing nin's, and Kisame thought he wasn't going to get an answer, but then Itachi spoke.

"Shisui was the one who gave me my Mangekyou." Itachi's eyes were downcast; the ground became suddenly very interesting.

"Oh. Well, okay." Kisame felt awkward, he'd never seen Itachi show many emotions and having them surface almost all within an hour was weird. "Well then, what were you saying no to?" _My curiosity is certainly going to get me killed._

"My friend Moriko, she saw what I did that night. I hadn't wanted her to see any of it, but she had wanted to tell me about something I guess, or maybe she just knew what was going to happen and wanted to stop it. I'm not sure; she's the only living person I do not understand."

_Not dying tonight! Haha I'm still winning, I have 5 points and Itachi-san has 2. _"So the ones you don't understand, you kill?" Kisame's hearty laugh filled the small campsite, and Itachi glared. "Oh come on, it was funny." Another angry glare. "Or maybe not." Kisame shifted his gaze up to the sky. "You could still get another couple hours of sleep, unless you want **me** to get the couple hours." Kisame smiled, showing his fang like teeth. "Ne, Itachi-san?"

"You sleep." Itachi pulled his cloak back on, having used it as a blanket, and sat up against a tree. Kisame was going to tell Itachi to sleep, but one look at that still sweaty face told him Itachi wasn't getting any sleep for the next couple of days.

"'Kay fine, but next time we get into a town, I'll buy you a stuffed animal to sleep with." Another angry glare. Kisame sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "You don't find anything funny do you?" Glare. "Nope, okay then." Kisame practically threw himself onto the ground, a soft sigh escaping his lips. "Nighty, night, 'Tachi!" Kisame could feel the heated glare burning a hole through his head, but chuckled softly anyways and allowed sleep to claim him.

Ω

Moriko sat on her bed, fully armed. After beating the living crap out of Kakashi, she wasn't sure what to spend time on now. Looking around her room, she saw plain walls. _Maybe I could paint them?_ She mused for a while longer, trying to decide on a color, when there was a knock on her window. "Ughh, go away!" Dramatically, she threw her back against her bed, laying down and pretended to sleep. The knocking became insistent. "No! I don't want to go to the Hokage Tower, I'm so tired. Let me stay home for once! I'll actually make this look like a home? Please?" She pleaded to the person at her window, knowing full well it was Ibiki, her superior. _I really shouldn't speak to him like that, but oh my Lord if I have to go on another 'watch these genin and make sure they don't kill that old lady's yard' mission, someone was going to be in an extreme amount of pain._

"Open up Moriko. You need to report to Tsunade about the situation with Kakashi." Ibiki's voice was deep and commanding. Very authoritive, and no one would go against his orders, simply from the way he spoke. "Now." He added when the young women didn't move.

"Aww, Ibiki-sama, I wanted to stay home and bake cookies with youuu. (1)" Moriko quickly burst into a fit of giggles, watching as the angry man outside her window twitched an eyebrow. "Okay, Ibiki, I'll be right there." With a quick glance around her room, she turned to him again. "Do I need my mask?"

Ibiki's eyebrow twitched again. There's no way she could have misplaced it, there was nothing in the bedroom that could even pass as a hiding spot. "No, let's just go. Hokage-sama is waiting."

"'Kay!" With a poof of smoke, there no longer stood a person inside the apartment, and Ibiki growled; he really hoped she actually went to the Hokage Tower. Growling again, Ibiki set off towards the large red mansion.

Ω

"Moriko, you realize you attacked a fellow ninja?" Tsunade's voice was calm and quiet, although clearly she was fuming. Her left eyebrow kept twitching, and her pinkie finger was having a spasm on the dark oak desk. Moriko lowered her eyes to the floor. "May I ask 'why'?"

"Well, he's a pervert." Moriko's cheeky behaviour was not going to last long; Ibiki quickly stepped through the door.

"I apologize, Lady Hokage." Ibiki bowed low, then realized Moriko wasn't bowing with him, brought up a hand and pulled her down by the hair. "I assure you, this will never happen again. I will take responsibility."

"No, Ibiki. I want to know why my best ninja was attacked, and why a few of her fellow officers are suffering from blood loss." Tsunade was directing her hazel gaze to the woman standing in front of her, with her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl deeply set into her face. Such disrespect from Moriko was new, and even though rude, it was slightly amusing. She was acting like a child, but on her it was cute. Tsunade also made sure to call Kakashi her best ninja, even though from the situation at hand, it was obvious that Moriko was stronger. Maybe now she will get an answer.

"Kakashi-san saw me in the bathhouse; he was peeking from behind the fence. The 'guards' you so kindly appointed me, passed out after I got out of the water. You'd think being part of the elite, that wouldn't happen, but they are still new, I guess they can be excused. But, Kakashi-san was just being gross. So, I punched his face in. Besides, he totally deserved it." Moriko scoffed as she made sure to look directly into Tsunade's eyes.

Tsunade was glad her folded hands kept her mouth hidden; she couldn't help the small smile that graced her features. "You dislike having guards?"

Moriko deadpanned. "YES! I told you I don't need any. It's not like Itachi came here to kill me. I'd already be dead, if that was the case." Moriko's anger seemed to fade, and she looked upset. "Why did you assume I would need guards, you personally told me one day that I could easily become Hokage since I'm so strong." Moriko's emerald eyes darkened, the only tell tale sign she was upset.

"Because, I figured something like this would happen." Tsunade sighed; Moriko was being such a pain. "Though I thought it would be worse if there weren't other witnesses, you know what the council is like. If it weren't for the known fact Kakashi is a pervert, you could be charged. You understand that, right?

"Yes." Moriko's eyes lowered, and studied the pattern on the carpeted floor. "I do understand, but I'm not sure why the council would get involved. This is why I wouldn't ever become Hokage. You're supposed to be in charge, but you have no real power since the council can overrule you. It's stupid."

"MORIKO!" Ibiki's face turned red with anger and embaressment. "I apologize, Lady Hokage." With a slap on the back of the head, Ibiki knocked Moriko into a sitting position on the floor. "Apologize!" He hissed at her.

_There's no way out of this one, God me and my big mouth. Way to go smarty pants! _Moriko quickly got on her hands and knee's bowing to her Hokage. She made sure to touch her forehead to the ground. "I apologize for speaking out of turn, and I apologize for the situation at hand. I will send my regards to Kakashi-san as well."

"Very well, you can leave." Tsunade's eyes carefully examined the ninja on the floor in front of her. Her personality was changing dramatically, yet slowly at the same time. _What is going on in that mind of yours?_

Ω

**(1) This is from a movie, Space Jam, it's so funny. You should watch it.**

**Woohooo! Another chappy done! Sorry it took so long, I hate holidays and then there was exams. It's slightly perturbing how long it took to get this up. Sorry! **

**Loves,**

**Moriko**

**EDIT: Aahhh. Few minor adjustments again… Again… . I hope you enjoy.**

**-Moriko**


	11. Chapter 11

'_My best ninja, my best ninja.' Yeah right. Kakashi is so not her best ninja! She's just trying to ruffle my feathers. _Moriko grumbled quietly as she stalked to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. _If I have to apologize, I'll do it with flowers. Maybe his allergies will kick in and I can watch him squirm. Hahaha, yesss._ Onlookers shied away from the angry ninja; not wanting to be caught in her wrath. Moriko's green eyes narrowed when she entered the store; she hated the smell of flower shops, it was just too much.

"Hello, how may I help you today?" A young girl was watching the store, clearly the daughter of Inoichi. "I've never seen you in here before, what's your name?" _A little chit chat couldn't hurt, right? As long as I'm polite, yes Moriko, be polite._

"I need something that says 'I'm sorry'. My names Moriko, by the way, you have a lovely flower shop." Moriko smiled, flashing some pearly white teeth, hoping that was all she needed to say. Hopefully, the girl wouldn't ask who the flowers are for.

"My name's Ino. Is it for a boy or girl? I've never given a boy flowers before. And even if we did, we all know boy's dislike pink. I could get you some Lily of the Valley; or maybe something a little bigger, like a White Calla. Fancy or simple?" The young girls eyes were sparkling, she loved her job.

"Simple. It's for a guy, we had a fight." Moriko's eyes softened, at least this girl could help her say sorry properly.

"Aw, that's too bad." Ino shared a look of sympathy with Moriko, and picked up some white lilies. "Here, about 6 would be good. And we can put this with it." She picked up some grass-like things and put them in with the bouquet. "This is perfect for 'I'm sorry'!"

"Yes, thank you so much." Another smile. "I don't know flowers, you were a great help." Ino's eyes seemed to pop out of her head from sheer joy.

"Do you want a card?"

"Card? Uhh…" _No, say no. No thank you. Well, maybe I should, since I don't plan on giving to him while he's awake. No, he should know it's from me, since he's sooo smart. _"No thank you." Moriko walked to the till, payed for her flowers, and left. _God, why are flowers so expensive? You'd better like them Kakashi or so help you God, there will be pain._

Ω

"Hello, may I help you?" A woman was sitting at the reception desk, with curly blond hair and round glasses. "Are you here to see someone?" She eyed the woman in front of her, carrying flowers, and looking a little lost.

"Yes, I'm here to see Kakashi-san." Moriko's eyes darted around the room; she hated hospitals and was subconsciously finding ways to escape.

"Oh, I'm sorry. He was discharged very early this morning by Tsunade-sama herself." The receptionist didn't look very sorry.

Ω

"You had me go all the way to the hospital with _these_, just to have him discharged! Why? Why would you do that? Please Tsunade, I hate this." Moriko's arms waved frantically in the air, the flowers seemingly attached to her hand.

"Kakashi didn't even have to stay the night; I was hoping that you would have gone yesterday, to apologize, since I had to send him on a mission with his squad." Tsunade brushed the conversation off, like a fly on the wall.

Moriko's eyebrow twitched. "Mission?"

"Yes."

Twitch, twitch.

"What mission, could have been more important than you humiliating me by apologizing?" Moriko was seething, and Tsunade's calm aura was not helping her.

"To capture Itachi, in order to capture Sasuke."

Ω

Rain was heavily pouring down upon two figures, one big and burly the other small and petite, yet both adorned black cloaks with red clouds. A small forest was behind them would be the only provided shelter.

"Let's wait this out under a tree. We can't have the body getting too cold." Kisame's gruff voice entered the small clearing of rock, partially drowned out by the rain.

"Right." Itachi glanced at his partner as he picked a body from the ground with his sword.

"We should be hearing from Leader-sama soon." Kisame was smiling, he'd recently had a good fight. Kisame was always for the glory, the elderly man was strung upon his sword like a trophy.

"He looks like he is about to die. Be careful with him, he is very old." Itachi felt a small pang of pity for the old man, but he was a jinchuuriki and it was necessary.

"You only say that because you don't know what he's capable of. The "four tails" uses many differently elemental fusions. This jinchuuriki was no pushover, I assure you." Kisame hated it when Itachi demeaned him, purposefully or not. "You didn't fight him directly; I wouldn't expect you to understand what I went through." Defending his honour, Kisame's voice was rough and harsh.

"Hmph."

_Whoops! Made him mad. _"Then again, I was the one who wanted to go in by myself. Perhaps you'll let me beat your target half to death, too?" Kisame smiled again, showing rows of sharp teeth.

"Do not get cocky, Kisame."

_Man, he needs to learn to take a joke!_ "I'm a bit tired. I'd like to find him quickly so I can rest." _All this running around after the tailed beasts is really getting annoying. Especially when my partner doesn't know a joke from a slap across the face._

"There is no rush, go ahead and take a break. It is going to take a fair amount of time." Itachi replied, while walking alongside Kisame into the thick protection of the trees.

"I wonder… There's only a few left, right? Obviously we need to seal the nine-tails last. Our leader has made it clear that if we don't, the balance will be destroyed and the sealing statue would crumble. And since we need to bring them back alive, don't you think we should try to find the jinchuuriki as quickly as we can?" _It only makes sense, we could keep them prisoner until we needed them._

Itachi lowered himself to sit underneath a tree. "Not really." _I want to draw out Akatsuki's plans as long as I can. Konoha needs the nine-tails to be safe._ "Deidara screwed up too. If our target needs to be sealed last, there should be no problem with leaving that hunt for last."

_Damn, this old guy is getting heavy._ Unceremoniously, Kisame dumped the four-tails to the ground, and then waited for Itachi to continue.

"Plus, Akatuski has started standing out too much. If we try to take the nine-tails now, the response from the leaf village will be even bigger than the last time."

_Friggen genius-kid._ "Hmmm... I suppose so…"

"The leaf has a large amount of contacts in other hidden villages. If they put the word out, it will be very difficult for us to make a move. Getting the jinchuuriki up to the eight-tails first is a much better plan."

"I see… I must admit, that makes sense." _I wish I could see these things before he has to tell me. Man, I'm looking pretty bad._

Itachi's face remained impassive as their leader contacted them. _Good, now we'll seal this jinchuuriki and then I can be off. I need to do something._

Ω

**Okay, I had to put that in there. It was sooo long; I thought that little bit was going to take forever! But that's what was happening when team Hebi and Konoha were planning to catch Itachi. X.x And then, there's even more. Gross.**

**EDIT: woooo time flies! Again.. A few minor changes. LOVE IT!**

**-Moriko**


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